Maternal Aunt Zhou said thoughtfully, “Her Majesty the Empress really treats you extremely well, to tell you even such matters.”

Qin Shuying smiled, “Her Majesty the Empress only mentioned a little bit. Everything else was investigated by the Earl himself. As the Maternal Aunt knows, the Earl is both deeply emotional and extremely intelligent. It’s only because he encountered such a situation that he couldn’t bring himself to speak directly to the Old Madam, which is why he requested you in such a roundabout way.”

Maternal Aunt Zhou’s wariness had not yet subsided, and she remained suspicious and uncertain.

“But I’ll speak the harsh truth first—if the Maternal Aunt remains stubborn and unrepentant, and Second Master Luo and your grandsons suffer consequences, then that’s beyond what I can remedy.”

Maternal Aunt Zhou’s gaze began to flicker, “This, this—let me think about it. Once I’ve thought it through, I’ll come speak with the Old Madam.”

“That’s natural. The Old Madam uses both kindness and severity, and the Maternal Aunt has always feared her. Since we want to accomplish this matter, we don’t want to be too clever for our own good.”

Qin Shuying had achieved her purpose and was impatient to continue dealing with her. After saying a few pleasant words and coaxing Maternal Aunt Zhou out the door, she returned to the hall where Liang Yunshan was already seated upright in his chair.

His gaze was like sharp arrows, as if he wanted to pin Qin Shuying to the ground.

Qin Shuying was not afraid at all. Instead, she smiled, “The Earl knows I have quick wit, which is why you asked me to come deceive Maternal Aunt Zhou. Now that I’ve extracted the information through deception, why does the Earl look at me with such disgust?”

Liang Yunshan said in a deep voice, “How do you know so much?”

Qin Shuying smiled, “Earl, you previously said I schemed to trap my cousin and trap my mother-in-law, but you never thought that facing so many dangers, if I weren’t clever and didn’t consider every detail carefully, the current Qin Shuying would probably have been buried long ago. Since I could calmly face so many dangerous situations, after discovering the Old Madam’s strangeness and abnormality, it’s perfectly normal for me to be extra cautious and careful in everything. Earl, the Old Madam’s strangeness and abnormality are easily noticed by others—or rather, everyone in the capital thinks the Old Madam is peculiar. Only the Earl turns a blind eye to it.”

Liang Yunshan’s tiger eyes widened, “What strangeness do you speak of?”

Qin Shuying said lightly, “Tell me, which family’s old nobility would so detest her own legitimate eldest grandson? Would so thoroughly ruin her own legitimate granddaughter? There’s only one explanation—that legitimate eldest grandson and legitimate granddaughter are not her blood at all!”

Liang Yunshan sat there stunned.

“I also know that before eldest sister married, the Earl returned to the capital twice but never saw eldest sister once. Earl, have you never wondered about the reason? What grace and bearing eldest sister had, yet she was slandered to be such a person—did the Earl never suspect? When mother died and was still splashed with dirty water, the Earl never investigated but simply condemned mother without proof? Earl, you didn’t kill Boren, but Boren died because of you. Earl, I truly feel it’s unfair for mother!”

Liang Yunshan’s face turned ashen, his lips trembling as he muttered to himself, “I, am I really not born of her?”

Qin Shuying said, “Does the Earl now believe that Luo Meixiang is the Old Madam’s daughter?”

Confusion flickered in Liang Yunshan’s eyes, and he didn’t answer.

“What a shrewd person the Old Madam is—how could she truly marry her biological daughter to her biological son? There’s another matter the Earl probably doesn’t know. I’ll just say it, and whether it’s true or not, the Earl can investigate himself. The day after Steward Concubine gave birth to you, the Old Madam also bore a child, but that child was born dead. The Old Madam then took you over and killed Steward Concubine. Currently, we know of an old midwife who delivered for the Old Madam back then. She’s now over sixty, married into the Hu family, and she probably knows something. There’s also an old woman surnamed Zhao who served Steward Concubine back then. She’s now over fifty and should also know something. The Earl can slowly investigate and verify.”

Liang Yunshan said in a hoarse voice, “You say she, she killed my birth mother? Why?”

Qin Shuying smiled coldly, “The Earl doesn’t believe it? No wonder. The Old Madam has been aloof and proud all these years, disdaining to look at us common people. In the Earl’s eyes, she’s like a celestial being—how could someone as vicious as me dare to question her?”

At this point, Qin Shuying gave a self-mocking laugh, “Steward Concubine left behind a blood letter. We made a rubbing copy—the original is with old woman Zhao, and the Earl can certainly investigate and verify. However, I must make one thing clear in advance: if the Earl is again deceived by the Old Madam into thinking we’re lying to you and creating false evidence, I won’t acknowledge it! If the Earl is again manipulated by others, we’re not afraid either—at worst, we’ll fight again! The Earl should see clearly that Ziyu and eldest sister simply don’t want to be killed by the Old Madam and Luo Meixiang—they just want to live. Since someone wants to take their lives, they can only fight with all their strength to seek justice for themselves. At that time, if we hurt the woman you love or the children you cherish, as long as the Earl has the face to come question us, don’t blame us for not remembering father-son affection!”

Liang Yunshan sat in a daze, completely unaware how bizarre it was for such words to come from his daughter-in-law.

What daughter-in-law would so viciously scold her father-in-law?

Since the incident at Pine and Cypress Grove, Qin Shuying had thought everything through very clearly. She was now helping Liang Zhe completely bring down Old Madam Liang and Luo Meixiang, and afterward, she would divorce Liang Zhe.

Since that was the case, what kind of father-in-law was Liang Yunshan to her, what kind of elder? He was just a confused general, a confused damned old man.

What difference was there between him and the damned old scoundrels on the street!

He was just wearing the outer garment of a general.

In her previous life, when she did business in the marketplace, she often suffered harassment from such scoundrels. They varied in age, wealth, some were lecherous, some greedy, some bullied the weak and feared the strong, some were vicious, some disregarded their wives and children’s lives, some were ruthless… From initial fear of these people, Qin Yaoyao later used various means to deal with them, then designed traps to frame them—she employed every method.

Otherwise, how could her business have grown so large?

“Earl, if all of this still isn’t right, then I can only guess that the real Old Madam Liang died long ago. The current Old Madam Liang is a fake. Otherwise, look—at her great age, how does she appear almost the same age as Madam?”

Liang Yunshan sat there stupidly. He knew this was Qin Shuying reminding him how to handle the aftermath.

“Earl, the woman on the bed killed the real Old Madam Liang. Anyway, since the Earl has been at the border for so long, you couldn’t recognize true from false either, wouldn’t you say? Only this way can all the facts make sense.”

Having said this, Qin Shuying curtsied and withdrew.

Liang Yunshan sat in his chair, seemingly unaware of Qin Shuying’s departure.

Qin Shuying walked out of Ning Garden, let out a long breath, and pressed her temples.

At this moment, Ziyu should be dealing with those maids and servants who hadn’t managed to withdraw today, right?

Who told them to hear things they shouldn’t have heard.

Among them, some deserved their fate and weren’t worth pitying—for instance, Nanny Luo and Nanny Ye, whom Luo Meixiang brought in later, had respectively helped Old Madam Liang and Luo Meixiang commit countless evil deeds over the years.

There were also several maids who, though they had often done their share of helping evildoers, didn’t deserve death.

For example, Mu Jin and a maid that Luo Meixiang brought—they could only blame their bad luck for following masters like Old Madam Liang and Luo Meixiang. They would just be given a muting drug and sent to the estate.

This matter also required an explanation for Luo Meixiang and her three children, otherwise the subsequent affairs wouldn’t be easy to handle.

Therefore, Old Madam Liang’s identity had to change.